SJC: Registration form for homeless sex offenders must be fixed

2-14-2008 Masachusetts:

BOSTON (AP) - The state's highest court says the Sex Offender Registry Board needs to change its registration form so sex offenders can clearly identify themselves as homeless.

The Supreme Judicial Court overturned the conviction of a Level 3 sex offender who was found guilty of violating the registration requirements for sex offenders because he listed the Pine Street Inn as his permanent address but stayed at the shelter only intermittently.

The SJC found that the current registration form doesn't designate a place where homeless sex offenders can list a shelter as their residence without being penalized.

The law allows homeless offenders to list shelters to help police track them. ..more.. by Associated Press


Excerpts from Supreme Judicial Court decision: COMMONWEALTH v. ROSADO:

As a practical matter, if we were to accept the Commonwealth's interpretation of G. L. c. 6, §§ 178E and 178F 1/2, it would lead to illogical results. According to the Commonwealth, the defendant's absence from the Inn is evidence of his intent to change his address and thus, pursuant to G. L. c. 6, §§ 178F 1/2 and 178E (h), the defendant would have to appear in person at the police department to give ten days' notice before establishing a new residence or not staying at the Inn. Because homeless sex offenders, by the very nature of their situation, lack a permanent residence, they have little control over where they live. Here, because the defendant is relying on a lottery system to secure a bed it would be almost impossible to provide ten days' notice. ROPT Ltd. Partnership v. Katin, 431 Mass. 601, 603 (2000) (courts do not interpret statute so as to "produce an illogical result"). Therefore, we decline to accept the Commonwealth's interpretation; however, we are not asserting that all homeless sex offenders are automatically exempt from complying with G. L. c. 6, § 178E (h).

The sex offender registration form is ambiguous because in both the instructions for the permanent address and the instructions for the temporary address it requires a homeless registrant to provide "the city and [an] approximate location within the city," yet the form fails to provide a homeless registrant with the opportunity to show his homeless status. We conclude that the defendant complied with the instructions from the board because we construe the defendant's placing "444 Harrison Ave[nue]" in the permanent address box and crossing out the temporary and mailing address boxes as simultaneously reporting to the board that he was homeless and that his approximate address was 444 Harrison Avenue. We further conclude that the defendant fulfilled his statutory obligation to register under G. L. c. 6, § 178F 1/2, by registering in person at a local police department every ninety days.

Sex offender registration form. To prevent a recurrence of this situation we now address the registration form. The Legislature, pursuant to G. L. c. 6, §§ 178F and 178F 1/2, specifically grants homeless sex offenders the opportunity to list a homeless shelter as their residence in order to aid law enforcement officials in their efforts to track them. The current sex offender registration form fails to effectuate the Legislature's express intent because the form does not designate a place where homeless sex offenders may clearly identify themselves so that they can, without penalty, list a homeless shelter as their residence. Therefore, the board should consider amending the sex offender registration form as soon as practicable or provide other practical ways for sex offenders to show their homeless status.